NLD demands dialogue and end to dictatorship on International Day of Democracy

The National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s Central Executive Committee called for immediate political dialogue, the end of violence against civilians, and the release of all political prisoners in a statement to mark the International Day of Democracy in Myanmar on Tuesday. “Only an inclusive political process can lay a solid foundation for peace, national reconciliation, and the establishment of a federal democratic union,” the NLD stated on Sept. 15, adding that it “respected” those who sacrificed their lives fighting for a return to democracy in Myanmar. Duwa Lashi La, the National Unity Government (NUG) acting president, repeated this message on Sept. 15, stating that the regime in Naypyidaw must be “uprooted” to establish a federal democratic union in Myanmar. The NUG was established with the support of NLD lawmakers elected in 2020 but ousted in the 2021 coup. Myanmar’s newest resistance coalition, the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF), was founded on March 30 by the NUG, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), and four key ethnic armed organizations: the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP) to coordinate military and political efforts toward a federal democratic union. In a similar message on Sept. 15, the SCEF stated that it was “proud” of the people who continue to struggle for democracy despite the military’s repression, and vowed to end military dictatorship in Myanmar. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing ousted the NLD administration on Feb. 1, 2021 after a second landslide victory for the NLD over the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the 2020 elections. President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested and jailed on what analysts and supporters describe as politically-motivated charges. Win Myint, 74, was released in a Myanmar New Year Amnesty on April 18. Aung San Suu Kyi, 80, has received two sentence reductions since then, reducing her overall count to 18-years in prison. She was reportedly transferred from prison to house arrest in the capital Naypyidaw on April 30. Aung San Suu Kyi’s son Kim Aris launched a new campaign titled “Free Her,” on Sept. 7, which continues to demand the immediate release of his 81-year-old mother, who met with a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at an undisclosed location on Aug. 3. Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD governed Myanmar from 2016-21 but the party was dissolved in 2023 by the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) for “not re-registering” despite anyone associated with the party being targeted by regime authorities. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) documented that 14,817 political prisoners remain behind bars since the coup in 2021. The post NLD demands dialogue and end to dictatorship on International Day of Democracy appeared first on DVB.